Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Yesterday the Examiner hinted how the GPA and the GAA are heading for confrontation on the proposals for fixtures reform and presented further evidence of this again today.

The GPA represented by Sean Potts, their head of communications, are insisting that their proposal for changes to the championship structure should be considered by Congress. Despite being contrary to the objectives of Pairic Duffy's reforms which aim to achieve less inter-county matches, the GPA want more. Almost 40 games more. And they're not shy about reminding us that as the inter-county bring in 80% of the funding of the GAA - according to Potts - they should be listened to.

However, in a separate piece the Examiner also reports on comments from Peter Twiss, the Kerry GAA Secretary who is in favour of the GAA's reforms: “If people really want something done about club fixtures then they should give these proposals serious consideration".

It's too early to judge whether Twiss' position is reflected in the County Boards in other counties. But it is clear that we're in for an interesting three months in the build-up to Congress in February. If club players really want to see the reforms voted through then they need to start making their voices heard.

Monday, November 30, 2015

There's been lots written over the past week about promoting the GAA internationally following the International Rules game in Dublin and the 'Classic' Hurling match between Galway and Dublin in Fenway Park.

Keith Duggan in Saturday's Irish Times claimed that 'The world is happy to leave Gaelic Games to the Irish' and that the exposure gained from such an event is not going to impact playing numbers in the US. His opinion was echoed by many others who don't see the point.

However, as Dessie Farrell pointed out if the right strategy is adopted then games like the Super 11 can have an important promotional as well as developmental role. But then who is going to adopt the right strategy? Is it the GAA's role or the GPA's role? Or shouldn't they be working together?

Why weren't hurling teams based in the US and Canada invited to participate in a Super 11 tournament that could have taken place the same weekend in Boston with the Galway v Dublin match the culmination of a hurling weekend? Am sure teams like Indianapolis and Milwaukee who are made up of almost all Americans would have been thrilled to be invited, take part and see the best players in their chosen sport in action.

And we don't have to look very far abroad to see that Gaelic Games ARE growing outside of Ireland with keen interest from non-Irish to grow the game. For example, in France this weekend the French Gaelic Football Federation welcomed Azur Gaels, the 23rd club to join the federation and in the same weekend Brittany inaugurated the first women's championship with three teams participating.

But that's not all, there's more to come with several more Gaelic football teams planned in Angers, Caen, Narbonne and Saint-Lô.

There are growing signs that the GAA and GPA are once again on collision course.

In today's Examiner John Fogarty suggests that the two could be at 'loggerheads' over their opposing plans for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The GPA want more inter-county games - with 31 out of 32 county panels in support of their proposals for more games per year - while the GAA want less games in order to rebalance county fixtures with club fixtures.

It's hard to see how the GPA will want to go along with a GAA administration that is advocating change in the direction of the clubs.

"The bottom line is quite simple. This is about shifting the balance unashamedly, unapologetically from inter-county to club activity," says Aogán O Fearghail, GAA President, in an interview with Martin Breheny in Saturday's Indo.

Perhaps Donal Óg Cusack was hinting that more friction was on its way when he said that 'There always needs to be friction between players and administrators’. Afterall the five year protocol agreement signed in 2011 only continues another 10 months so it will be interesting to see if the GPA make reform of the football championship a central part of a new agreement with the GAA.

Will be interesting to see what happens in February at Congress as the GAA has a very big call to make.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

The Irish Post draws a good comparison between Crossmaglen Rangers and Nemo Rangers, pointing out how these two powerhouses in club football prioritise coaching young players and keeping all players involved with their clubs.

Senior club players are 'very frustrated and demoralised' according
to Donal Murphy, Chairman of Rathmore GAA Club.

The
Examiner reports that their frustration is such that the players and
management of the club were behind a motion put to the Kerry County Board to
postpone all SFC games between July's Munster final and Kerry's exit from
the All-Ireland football championship.

They were so fed-up with the current situation that they would prefer to know in advance that they have no championship games at all in the summer months, than to be training for games that may or may not happen.

Thankfully, the Kerry board have rejected the proposal but it demonstrates
the feelings of club players in the GAA who want certainty in the fixtures
and to be able to plan their lives.

Recently on newstalk, Tomás Ó Sé, having experienced a
season as a club player he thinks they get a 'raw deal' and are
'struggling to get their voice heard'.

Friday, November 20, 2015

I'm with Kevin McGillicuddy. The proposals for the fixtures problem just don't go far enough.

The real problem lies in the summer when the provincial inter-county championships monopolise the fine weather and deny club players the best conditions to play the club championships.

And as Kevin points out, the County Boards are left in charge of this problem but their priority is not giving club players meaningful games it's chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and doing anything and everything to ensure the county team's success. They are caught in the Catch-22 of pumping money into the preparation of county teams and dependent on the county team's success to recoup the money invested.

Perhaps it is time for a Gaelic CLUB Players Association. Inter-county players are 'selfish' as Tomas O'Se admitted on Off the Ball. Although that's not something we didn't know already given the GPA's words and actions since its inception.

The club players have no-one to convey their collective voice despite representing the vast majority of the GAA's playing membership. The 'elitist cartel' as Joe Brolly calls them has Croke Park and the County Boards under its control and the national media only care about the county scene as that's what sells papers, gets them clicks and pays their wages. And it seems anytime there's a committee or panel created to look into these matters it consists of ex-county players who have a bias towards the inter-county game.

But how could a Club Players body come into existence? It was hard enough to form the GPA.